| This blue box depicts the towering scale of London Fire Brigade's carbon use reduction |
Fire authority chiefs have given the go-ahead to a scheme that will save the London Fire Brigade almost £1million on its energy bills over the next 10 years.
Under the scheme, ten stations will receive a green makeover which will help cut energy bills by £80,000 a year, saving a total of 440 tonnes of CO² each year – equivalent to the height of The Monument to the Great Fire of London (see picture attached). Hammersmith Fire Station alone will see its carbon emissions reduced by as much as 44 per cent.
The work is part of the Mayor of London’s RE:FIT programme and will be the Brigade’s second wave of buildings after the first ten were completed last year. The scheme also includes buildings owned by Transport for London, the Met Police and the Greater London Authority Group.
Today’s announcement is the start of Climate Week and shows the Brigade’s commitment to the Mayor’s vision of cutting carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2025.The green measures will cut energy bills at the fire stations and will mean that new green technology will pay for itself. Some of the features fitted at the ten stations included solar panels that turn the sun’s rays into electricity, motion censored lights and energy efficient boilers.
Chairman and Leader of London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority Councillor Brian Coleman AM, FRSA, said:“This Authority has once again shown its full support for the Mayor’s vision for a greener London. This scheme is a win-win as it pays for its self in the long term by bringing down our energy bills and saving taxpayers money.
| The work is part of the Mayor of London's RE:FIT programme and will be the Brigades' second wave of buildings after the first ten were completed last year |
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “Hats off to the London Fire Brigade for giving ten more fire stations a fabulous green makeover. This scheme not only saves the Fire Brigade and the taxpayer a huge £80,000 a year in energy bills that can be better spent keeping Londoners safe, but it helps cut our carbon emissions too.”
London Fire Brigade’s green projects led to savings of £260,000 in 2009/10 and over the last five years the Brigade has saved over £1 million. Despite the organisation growing overall, carbon emissions from its buildings are down by over 20 per cent on 1990 levels.
The works are planned to start in June 2011 and be completed by spring 2012.The ten stations are (% of carbon emissions expected to be saved at each are in brackets): Barking (16%), Bromley (20%), Downham (19%), Euston (21%), Hammersmith (44%), Hornchurch (18%), Millwall (24%), Silvertown (16%), Stratford (19%) and Sutton (18%).